Very Computer

There's a distinct lack of top ST games around just now, so I was more
than pleased to download Manic Minefield from umich!
It's great! Sampled sound and music, and a topgame to boot!
And it rt runs on a 520 too!

Why aren't more shareware games like this?
My cash is in the post!

Does anyone know of any more games by the same guy?

Rich.

p.s. it's called manic.zip and it's in the games directory of the umich
archive, anticipating the posts which will follow asking where to get it!
:)

Well, I'll tell you why...

Atari users tend to take shareware for granted and don't register for it.
I know I've been guilty of that (but I've changed and started to) and I
know plenty of other people have when I worked on some ST shareware games.

Case in point: Insectroid - it's a decent game for only $10 (plus lots of
extra stuff).  It went out on the MArch '93 ST Format cover disk and
and only a handful registered for it.

Don't bother registering for it now though...the author and I have had a falling
out and he won't split any money received.

Still, I'm glad you did register for that game.  Hopefully, enough will think
alike and keep the author from leaving the platform like I have.

Ari

People have to come to the understanding that not paying for shareware
that they keep and regularly use is just another form of software piracy.
To be fair, I really doubt if Atarians are any worse, percentage wise,
about not paying for shareware that they regularly use. Very few folks
actually register (pay for) their shareware on any platform.

But the installed user base of Atari computers is soooo small compared
to other platforms, it amplifies the problem. The PC base (and the Mac,
to an extent) is so HUGE compared to Atari, that shareware authors can
get by on an even smaller percentage of paying users. True, there is a
lot more software competing for those sparce shareware dollars, but the
_potential_ for making money in PC or Mac shareware exists; I would not
make the same claim for the Atari market.

To paraphrase a popular colloquialism...

        "It's the MARKET, stupid!" :)

Cheers,